Raptors Sign Cory Joseph
JULY 9TH, 11:22am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
“We have watched Cory grow as a player and see him as a great fit in our system,” GM Masai Ujiri said in the team’s statement. “He is another player with a defensive skill-set that will be an asset to our team.”
10:16pm: It’s a four-year year deal worth $30MM, ESPN.com’s Chris Broussard tweets. It includes a player option after the third year, Broussard tweets.
JULY 5TH, 9:21pm: Newly-minted unrestricted free agent Cory Joseph is nearing a deal with the Raptors, reports ESPN.com’s Marc Stein (Twitter link).
Earlier on Sunday, the Spurs pulled their qualifying offer to Joseph, making the point guard an unrestricted free agent. The Spurs originally extended a qualifying offer to Joseph on June 30, then making him a restricted free agent, but, that, of course, was before the team reached an agreement to sign LaMarcus Aldridge. The client of Rich Paul filled in nicely this past season as a starter when both Tony Parker and Patty Mills were injured in December. Joseph would be expected to become Toronto’s backup point guard and provide the backcourt with some defensive prowess.
The Raptors’ interest in Joseph precedes the summer.Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun tweets that the Raptors attempted twice to trade for Joseph, but were turned down. Joseph is from Canada, and Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has pledged to pursue Canadian players.
Raptors Sign DeMarre Carroll
JULY 9TH, 9:26am: The deal is official, the team announced (on Twitter).
JULY 1ST, 11:07am: The Raptors will sign DeMarre Carroll, the small forward revealed on his verified Twitter account (hat tip to Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com). It’s a four-year, $60MM deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). The Hawks weren’t going to give much more than $50MM on a four-year arrangement, tweets Arnovitz. Carroll said the Pistons and Suns also had interest but the Raptors simply went over the top with their offer, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Knicks, Lakers and Celtics all appeared to have interest in Carroll, too, as did the Hawks, but they were growing pessimistic about retaining the Mark Bartelstein client in tandem with Paul Millsap. Carroll is a three-and-D wing whose value skyrocketed after he signed a two-year, $5MM deal with Atlanta in 2013, and it wasn’t an easy decision for him to leave the Hawks, as he told Vivlamore (Twitter link).
Toronto will use much of its max-level cap space on Carroll, likely cutting the team off from a pursuit of LaMarcus Aldridge or another marquee target. The Raptors gained $6.6MM worth of cap flexibility when they traded Greivis Vasquez last week.
Raptors Waive Luke Ridnour
The Raptors have waived Luke Ridnour, the team announced, ending the odyssey that saw him traded four times in one week. The point guard had been expecting the move, as his $2.75MM non-guaranteed salary was to become fully guaranteed if he didn’t hit waivers by Friday.
Ridnour, who told TNT’s David Aldridge this week that he’s still thinking of retiring, finished this past season with the Magic, who traded him to the Grizzlies last month. Memphis flipped him to the Hornets, who in turn sent him to the Thunder. Oklahoma City sent him to Toronto, the final destination for his contract, barring the unlikely event a team claims him off waivers.
The 34-year-old had career lows in points, assists and minutes per game this past season. Still, he’s just two years removed from having started all 82 games for the Timberwolves in 2012/13.
And-Ones: Matthews, Stoudemire, Kanter
As the drama regarding DeAndre Jordan‘s free agency decision seemingly concludes, the Mavericks can breathe easier knowing that Wesley Matthews still intends to sign with the team regardless of Jordan’s choice, Jason Quick of The Oregonian writes. Matthews reached a verbal agreement with Dallas on a sign a four-year deal worth approximately $13MM per season, and he is expected to officially sign the agreement and be introduced to the Dallas media on Thursday, the first day the NBA moratorium ends, Quick adds.
Here’s more from around the league:
- With Jordan deciding to remain with the Clippers, signing unrestricted free agent Amar’e Stoudemire will be an option for the Mavericks, Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report relays (Twitter links). Stoudemire is also strongly considering the Heat, Zwerling adds.
- There is growing speculation around the league that the Pacers will approach the Mavs about a trade for Roy Hibbert now that Dallas has missed out on Jordan, Jake Fischer of LibertyBallers tweets. That’s apparently even though Indiana has committed to trade Hibbert to the Lakers.
- With the free agent moratorium set to end on Thursday, league sources believe that restricted free agent Enes Kanter will either re-sign with the Thunder or sign an offer sheet that the team would then match, Royce Young of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link).
- Forward Livio Jean-Charles, the No. 28 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, won’t be joining the Spurs for the 2015/16 campaign, according to Tony Parker, Dan McCarney of The San Antonio Express-News relays. Parker is not only a potential future teammate of Jean-Charles’, but he is also the president and owner of ASVEL Basket, the French team Jean-Charles currently plays for.
- The Thunder sent the Raptors $250k as part of the trade that landed Luke Ridnour in Toronto, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- The Celtics have a vested interest in where Jordan ends up, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tweets. Boston owns the rights to the Dallas 2016 first-rounder from the Rajon Rondo trade, which is top seven protected. With the Mavs whiffing on signing Jordan, a blow to the team’s chances of winning this coming season, the pick becomes more valuable, as long as the Mavs don’t sink too far and end up keeping it.
Atlantic Notes: Saric, Kaun, Jason Smith, Carroll
The Sixers apparently wanted to bring Dario Saric over for 2015/16, and Saric shared that desire, reports David Pick, writing for Basketball Insiders. However, the No. 12 pick in the 2014 draft doesn’t have a way to escape his contract with Turkey’s Anadolu Efes until next year. Saric was circumspect when Pick asked him about the idea of coming stateside and the situation with his overseas team.
“It’s really hard for me to answer that,” Saric said. “I can’t comment. I think I’m ready to compete in the NBA, against the best players, but we built a great team in Efes and I want to help the club win a championship.”
In any case, it would seem that Saric is anxious to sign with the Sixers as soon as he can, rather than wait until 2017, when he wouldn’t be bound by the rookie scale, though that’s just my observation. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- The most recent talks the Nets have had with the Cavaliers were about Cleveland draft-and-stash center Sasha Kaun, not Joe Johnson, as Chris Mannix of SI.com reports as part of a larger piece. The Nets and Kaun, a 6’11” 30-year-old, have had mutual interest for some time, tweets Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. The Spurs have also reportedly talked to the Cavs about him. The Johnson discussion is reportedly dormant.
- The Knicks offered their $2.814MM room exception to Jason Smith, but he turned it down for more money from the Magic, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. New York could have offered as much as $3,933,600 via Non-Bird rights, but agent Mark Bartelstein made it clear there are no hard feelings, as Berman relays. “The Knicks made a great attempt to try to keep him,’’ Bartelstein said.
- Soon-to-be Raptors signee DeMarre Carroll authored an homage to the Hawks, his former team, in The Players’ Tribune, giving credit to a handful of figures, especially former Hawks assistant Quin Snyder, who’s now head coach of the Jazz.
- New Raptors D-League one-to-one affiliate Raptors 905 has named Dan Tolzman as its GM and Jesse Mermuys its head coach and assistant GM, the team announced. Both were already employed within the Raptors organization.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Jefferson, Kaun
The Celtics have failed to land a major star via free agency thus far this offseason, but being free of burdensome contracts heading into the summer of 2016 will set the franchise up to be major players, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald writes. Salary cap experts are saying that Boston could potentially get themselves $39MM-$50MM under the cap if they play their cards properly, which means they could have the ability to sign two free agents to maximum contracts next offseason, Bulpett adds. The Boston Herald scribe also notes that it may be easier for the team to land two stars rather than one in the same offseason since players want to go where they have the opportunity to win, and signing as a duo would hold more potential appeal.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks are one of several teams to express interest in unrestricted free agent guard John Jenkins, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reports (Twitter link).
- Nets forward Cory Jefferson has been forced to cease Summer League play due to an ankle injury he has been struggling with, Shams Charania of RealGM relays (on Twitter). If Jefferson remains on Brooklyn’s roster past July 15th his contract for 2015/16 will become partially guaranteed for $150k, and this setback isn’t expected to affect Jefferson’s roster spot, Charania notes.
- If the Cavaliers and the Nets end up striking a deal to send Joe Johnson to Cleveland, there is a very good chance that the draft rights to Sasha Kaun head to Brooklyn in the transaction, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily tweets. The 30-year-old center has reportedly been a target of the Nets’ this offseason, though the talks between the two franchises appear to be stalled for the moment.
- As much as the Raptors may end up missing Lou Williams‘ offensive game, the team is glad to have rid itself of the distractions that the guard brought to the squad, Steve Simmons of The Toronto Sun writes. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year agreed to a three-year, $21MM arrangement with the Lakers, and if Nick Young isn’t traded, which the Lakers are reportedly exploring doing, it will certainly make for an entertaining locker room in Los Angeles in 2015/16.
Lowe’s Latest: Heat, West, Aldridge, Suns
The Heat have “put out Shabazz Napier feelers” as they seek to maximize their cap flexibility for the summer of 2016, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes within a larger column on free agency. Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen are available “for nothing,” Lowe adds, presumably meaning that the Heat continue to place a priority on clearing their salaries in an effort to avoid repeat-offender luxury tax penalties. Heat president Pat Riley denied a report last month that the team was shopping the pair, who are set to make a combined $9.3MM this coming season, but it sounds as if Miami is at least open to the idea of moving them if another team comes forward with an offer. Miami could simply decline its 2016/17 team option on Napier, worth about $1.35MM, but the team presumably wants to extract more value than that out of last year’s 24th overall pick. Lowe dishes plenty more in his latest must-read column, and we’ll pass along some of the highlights:
- David West turned down an extra $4MM or so from the Wizards and about an extra $2MM from the Warriors when he reportedly agreed to sign for the minimum salary with the Spurs, several league sources tell Lowe. That signals that Washington would have spent its $5.464MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level and Golden State would have used its $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level instead of committing part of it to Leandro Barbosa.
- The Nuggets tried before the draft to trade the lottery protected 2016 first-round pick it acquired from the Blazers in the Arron Afflalo trade in February, but no one bit, out of fear that the Blazers would lose LaMarcus Aldridge and miss the playoffs two years in a row, Lowe hears. If Portland doesn’t qualify for the postseason in 2016 or 2017, the first-rounder turns into two second-rounders, as RealGM notes.
- Aldridge’s interest in the Lakers was serious as free agency began, several sources told Lowe. He took two meetings with the team after the first one apparently didn’t focus enough on basketball for his liking.
- Suns owner Robert Sarver is impatient with his team’s playoff drought and has made it clear to the front office that he wants them to be aggressive in free agency, Lowe reports. That explains Phoenix’s pursuit of Aldridge, which had the Suns seemingly co-favorites with the Spurs at one point.
- The best information so far indicates that DeMar DeRozan and Chandler Parsons will opt out next summer, Lowe writes, though it’s early.
- George Karl loved coaching Kosta Koufos when they were together with the Nuggets, according to Lowe, so Sacramento’s agreement to sign the center leaves the Grantland columnist with the impression that Karl indeed has some degree of sway over Kings personnel.
Atlantic Notes: Williams, Ridnour, Sixers
- While Joseph will be the second Canadian, along with retired Jamaal Magloire, to play for the Raptors during the regular season, that wasn’t the reason why they were so enamored with him, Doug Smith of the Toronto Sun writes. Joseph, who agreed on a four-year, $30MM contract to leave the Spurs, has impressed the Raptors’ brass for years with his toughness and defensive prowess, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise the club targeted him, Smith adds.
- Luke Ridnour said that he expects the Raptors to waive him before his $2.75MM salary becomes guaranteed Friday and confirmed that he’s still contemplating retirement as he spoke with TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. The 34-year-old point guard also dished to Aldridge about what it was like to have his contract traded four times in one week.
- The Sixers fleeced the Kings in the unofficial but agreed upon trade that sent Nik Stauskas, Jason Thompson and Carl Landry to Philadelphia, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer opines. Stauskas fills a backcourt need and the team can eventually decline a team option on his contract if the second-year shooting guard doesn’t pan out, Pompey continues. Landry and Thompson can become role models and mentors for their young frontcourt lottery picks — Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid, Pompey adds. With that trade, the Sixers will likely have less roster movement than the past two seasons when 48 players saw action, Pompey concludes.
Spurs Pull Qualifying Offer To Cory Joseph
The Spurs have withdrawn their qualifying offer to Cory Joseph, making the point guard an unrestricted free agent, tweets Mike Monroe of The San Antonio Express-News, who cites a league source.
The Spurs originally extended a qualifying offer to Joseph on June 30, then making him a restricted free agent, but, that, of course, was before the team reached an agreement to sign LaMarcus Aldridge. The move to rescind the offer increases the likelihood that Joseph will not be back with the Spurs, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News tweets. The Spurs still have Joseph’s Bird Rights.
The Raptors, who have been interested in taking a shot at Joseph, have the financial flexibility to overpay, if necessary, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun tweets. The client of Rich Paul filled in nicely this past season as a starter when both Tony Parker and Patty Mills were injured in December and because of that, there’s a distinct possibility of his price tag rising. Joseph is from Canada, and Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has pledged to pursue Canadian players, so it is very logical that he’d at least consider signing Joseph. Yet, as Wolstat tweets, the Spurs remain in play.
Southeast Notes: Heat, Wizards, Carroll
Pat Riley has denied that he’s looking to do so, but the Heat may look to trade Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen to reduce their luxury tax costs, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami is staring at a bill of more than $30MM if no further moves are made, and replacing Chalmers and Andersen with minimum salary players [Jackson mentions Carlos Boozer as a possibility] or near-minimum guys [such as Marcus Thornton] could reduce that by about $20MM. Another trade candidate is Josh McRoberts, but Jackson says many in the organization would prefer to keep him. Jackson also credits Goran Dragic for taking a less-than-maximum deal to help the Heat keep Dwyane Wade. Zoran Dragic, who is entering the final year of his contract, admitted to being frustrated by a lack of playing time in Miami after being acquired from Phoenix in February.
There’s more news from the Southeast Division:
- A sign-and-trade deal involving Chalmers, Andersen or McRoberts could be the best way for the Heat to get the extra shooter they need, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. The columnist also contends Chris Bosh, if fully healthy, is a better fit for Miami than LaMarcus Aldridge would have been.
- Free agent Drew Gooden will probably be re-signed by the Wizards, writes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com, but Michael isn’t as optimistic about Kevin Seraphin. Gooden is valuable for Washington because he provides both size at 6’10” and three-point range, Michael argues, but he expects Seraphin to go somewhere he can get more playing time. The free agent center has been linked to the Lakers, Suns and Spurs. Michael also notes that the Wizards have been stocking up on wing players this summer in an effort to match up better with the Cavaliers’ LeBron James. So far, Washington has agreements to add Gary Neal, Jared Dudley and Kelly Oubre.
- The Hawks told DeMarre Carroll they had to make a choice between him and Paul Millsap in free agency, tweets Ethan J. Skolnick of Bleacher Report. Carroll said the Raptors made it clear to him that he was a top priority. “I came in and realized this team really wants me and the coach really wants me,” he said (Twitter link). “… At the same time, then they threw the money at me, and that was even bigger.” (Twitter link). Carroll is to receive $60MM over four years from Toronto.